ORANGE BEACH, ALA.: Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf washes ashore at Orange Beach in Alabama, on June 12. Large amounts of oil have battered Alabama's coast, leaving deposits of oil nearly 4-6 inches thick on the beach. Dave Martin/AP

DAUPHIN ISLAND, ALA.: On June 2, a child looks at a glob of oil that has washed onshore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Dauphin Island. Lee Celano/Reuters

PETIT BOIS ISLAND, MISS.: Suspended oil found floating in a huge sheen between Petit Bois Island in Mississippi and Dauphin Island in Alabama on June 2. John David Mercer/Press-Register/AP

BRETON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, LA.: Birds are seen near an oil containment boom at the Breton National Wildlife Refuge on May 4. Eric Gay/AP

GRAND ISLE, LA.: A beach remains closed as workers clean up oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on June 12. Charlie NeibergallAP

FOURCHON BEACH, LA.: President Barack Obama and Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph survey damage from the Gulf oil spill along the Louisiana coastline at Fourchon Beach on May 28. Larry Downing/Reuters

PASS A LOUTRE, LA.: A reporter is reflected in an oily sheen during a tour by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal of an area impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at Pass a Loutre, La., on June 2. Charlie Riedel/AP

PASS A LOUTRE, LA.: Oil drips from a glove dipped into the water during a tour by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal of an area impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at Pass a Loutre, La., on June 2. Charlie Riedel/AP

PERDIDO KEY, FLA.: People leave the beach in Perdido Key, Fla., on June 10 as health advisory signs have been placed along the beaches after oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster was found in the Perdido Pass and Pensacola Bay. Dave Martin/AP

CHANDELEUR ISLANDS, LA.: Oil sheen from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is seen on the surface of the water around the Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf of Mexico on June 2. Sean Gardner/Reuters

ELMER'S ISLAND, LA.: Oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and absorbent oil booms are seen on Elmer's Island in Grand Isle, La., on May 25. Gerald Herbert/AP

BAY JIMMY, LA.: Allen Sreiy stands next to oily booms on his shrimp boat as he helps in cleanup operations for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in Bay Jimmy near Venice, La., on June 11. Charlie Neibergall/AP

BARATARIA BAY, LA.: Oil from the Gulf oil spill pools against the Louisiana coastline in Barataria Bay on June 8. Charlie Riedel/AP

After widespread protests, a six-month state of emergency started in October. Now, much depends on the next move of leaders who have long used their track record of economic development to paper over widespread human rights abuses and political repression.

ByJames Jeffrey, ContributorDecember 9, 2016

Stringer/AP/File

For nearly a year, mass protests surged across Ethiopia – and stormed across the world’s headlines – as a movement that began with farmers fighting land grabs outside the country’s capital mushroomed into the country’s most sustained and widespread period of dissent and protests since its ruling party came to power more than two decades ago.